


Hearts In Motion

by epcot97



Series: Miraculous Ladybug One Shots [4]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng Fluff, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Identity Reveal, Ladrien | Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng as Ladybug, Ladynoir | Adrien Agreste as Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng as Ladybug, Lovesquare, Managed To Include All Four Parts of the Lovesquare, Marichat | Adrien Agreste as Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-12 01:34:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29502081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/epcot97/pseuds/epcot97
Summary: It’s shaping up to be another lonely Valentine’s Day for Chat Noir when Ladybug turns him down one more time; but dealing with his aching heart takes a back seat when Adrien discovers Marinette has hit a bit of a rough patch herself -- and decides to see what he can do to cheer her up on the Lover’s Holiday.A Miraculous Writer’s Guild 2021 Valentine for @2manyfandoms2count
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Series: Miraculous Ladybug One Shots [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2046785
Comments: 8
Kudos: 109
Collections: Miraculous Writer's Guild February 2021 Event





	Hearts In Motion

It had been a miserable week leading up to Valentine’s Day, so I wasn’t entirely surprised when the holiday itself proved to be the crescendo.

In the two years I’d been Chat Noir, I’d come to understand some of the patterns behind Hawkmoth’s behavior, and one of the most prevalent had been his upswing in activity around any holiday that evoked strong emotions; the Lover’s Holiday had never failed to deliver a steady stream of akumas who, for the most part, had wound up having their dreams crushed for one reason or another. It wasn’t hard for me to commiserate with Hawkmoth’s victims, for I seemed to have my own never-ending heartache when it came to my personal feelings for Ladybug. Whatever chance I _thought_ I might have had for her appeared to have dimmed considerably after she’d inherited the Miraculous Box from Master Fu, and to be honest, I couldn’t blame her. My partner’s new responsibilities didn’t really give her the luxury of having time for a personal life; and assuming she was about my age, I figured her civilian self was likely busily preparing for a life beyond Lycée.

Still, I knew I loved her; what had started for me as a hard crush the moment she’d entangled me in her yo-yo had deepened to something purer. The only upshot to Hawkmoth’s long reign of terror was the time I’d been privileged to spend by her side, getting to know the woman hiding behind the mask on a more personal level. My flirting had served a dual purpose, not only allowing me to remind her (constantly) of how I cared for her, but also teasing out over time a better understanding of the complicated person wielding the Bug Miraculous; slowly, I’d come to see the weight of the burden she wore around her shoulders and how I could ever-so-subtly try and ease it.

That particular week – approaching the third Valentine’s Day we’d been partners, by my count – I found myself wondering if I could finally figure out a way to show Ladybug that there was more to me than what she thought was my besotted schtick. My own efforts were working against me, of course, for though I knew she in her own way loved my antics, I wasn’t sure she saw the truth behind them. That point was driven home after our second akuma of the morning of Valentine’s Day.

Once the akuma had been dealt with, the two of us had retreated to a rooftop close to the scene; occasionally, we lingered for a few moments, catching up as best as we could before scurrying away to recharge our respective kwami. That morning, though, I knew I was on the cusp of missing a midterm if I didn’t leave straightaway, and the way Ladybug seemed anxious underscored that she, too, had to return to something. Still, I’d tried all week to muster the courage to ask her out and, as I took her hand in mine for my traditional farewell kiss-and-a-bow, I paused, my lips just above her hand.

Looking up, I could see she’d sensed a shift in my intent, and was looking at me with a frown. Ignoring the warning, I plunged ahead.

“Milady,” I said, my eyes looking at her from beneath my wild bangs, “I was wondering if you would be free on this evening.”

Ladybug looked at me, and her frown deepened. “Chat—”

“I don’t have anything fancy planned,” I hastily continued, “other than hoping we could spend a bit of time together celebrating our partnership under the beautiful stars.”

“Chat—”

“I’ve been trying to ask you all week, but this is the—”

“ _Chat_.”

I paused and felt my face flaming; it was clear from Ladybug’s expression I’d pushed beyond the boundary she’d set for our relationship yet again. “Oh,” was all I managed to say as I dropped her hand from my paw; I could feel my feline ears wilting.

“We’ve discussed this,” she said kindly. “You know we can’t do this,” she reminded me quietly, putting a gentle gloved finger to my chin and carefully lifting my masked face to hers. “I’m sorry.”

It was a sad smile that came to my face. “You can’t blame a feline for trying.”

“No,” she smiled slightly. “But a piece of advice? You need to find a way to put this – put _us_ – behind you. Out there, somewhere, is the right person for you. It’s just not me.”

I felt it best not to speak, and just nodded; we parted ways and I hurled myself toward school and the waiting midterm, propelled in equal parts by my mortification of being brushed off again, and that my ring was chirping out its four-minute warning. Turbulent thoughts roiled in my wake as I soared over the city I loved, despite my best efforts to remind myself that it had been a forgone conclusion. Deep in my heart, I knew that though I loved her with my entire feline being, it was far from mutual.

Landing on an ornate concrete filigree, I paused long enough to try and regroup my wits… and maybe to allow my blurred vision to clear. Despite being nearly sixteen, I didn’t seem to be getting any better at the whole love thing, instead finding myself starting to feel just a bit ground down by the process. As I blinked back my angst, my masked feline eyes caught the jaunty umbrella overhanging the one and only Andre, keeper of the lover’s ice cream. It felt a bit like a dagger to my feline heart, for the last time I’d visited his cart just a few weeks earlier, the cone had once more appeared as a frozen version of Ladybug.

Wiping my face with the back of my paw, I threw myself into the air and crossed the final distance to school, dropping down on the unremarkable pebbled roof of the rather ugly modern monstrosity. Unlike the Dupont, Lycée had none of the warm grace of the old building, instead being a paragon of the institutional aesthetic. About the only thing that made my new school tolerable was that we had more time between periods, and the campus was open, allowing us a freedom of movement that I’d not enjoyed at Dupont – at least, not as Adrien. 

Chat, of course, had long come and gone as he pleased, and that morning was no different. I flipped off the side of the roof and slid down an HVAC tube that hugged the rear of the building, landing gently on my rubber boots beside a little used side door off the rear alleyway. Standing from my crouch, my ring was chirping the warning I was down to two minutes when my feline ears heard footsteps approaching from the corner fronting the street. Leaping upward, I pressed myself beneath the landing of the fire escape and tried to blend into the shadows, fervently hoping no one looked up.

Alya and Marinette rounded the corner, which wasn’t exactly a surprise; the two best friends were generally joined at the hip, and along with Nino, we were the only four from our group at Dupont that had wound up enrolling at this particular Lycée. I knew Nino had intentionally followed Alya, though I wasn’t entirely certain why Marinette had decided to join us; this school was much further away from her parent’s bakery than the one I’d expected she’d attend, but to be honest, I was secretly happy she was with us. My feline hearing would have easily allowed me to eavesdrop on their animated conversation, but it was clear from the animated way they were talking, they didn’t think it was necessary to keep their voices down.

“You’ve just got to do it, girl,” Alya was saying. “It’s time. You shouldn’t be alone tonight.”

“I’m not ready, Alya. Not for that. Not for love.”

“I doubt that,” Alya replied, and I could nearly hear how her eyes were rolling in the response. “In fact, I think you’re _more_ than ready. Ready to move on. And move on _him,_ ” she added with a chuckle.

“He’s my friend,” Marinette sighed.

“Exactly,” Alya continued as they arrived beneath me and paused. 

“I messed up the last time--”

My Miraculous took that inopportune moment to chirp, and my masked eyes darted to my ring just as the final pawprint winked out; the center pad was all that remained now, and though a quick glance to the pair below me indicated they’d not heard anything, I knew the panic chirping that accompanied it disappearing would impossible not to hear. Not that it would matter; while my transformation dropping would helpfully cover the chirping, it would likely uncork a whole other issue entirely. I tried to focus on the conversation again and willed my friends to hurry it along.

“---different definition,” Alya seemed to be saying. “ _Talk_ to him. You might find the two of you are on the same page.”

“I doubt that,” Marinette sighed again. “How would I even approach him? It’s taken _years_ for me not to go all goofy when I try to talk to him.”

“Isn’t that the truth,” Alya laughed. “Then maybe you should talk to your _other_ friend. The one with those insanely cute feline ears. He might be able to help in that department.”

“Chat?” she asked as they moved toward the door. “I hardly _ever_ see him,” Marinette replied hastily.

My masked eyebrows went up, for I tended to drop in on Marinette a few times each week as Chat. It had started after that notorious incident with her father getting akumatized; while it hadn’t _strictly_ been my fault that Tom had gone bonkers, Marinette had honestly said she’d wanted to me to be her friend, and, not having many in my life, I’d decided to take her up on the offer. Chat had a much easier time of visiting her anyway, seeing as though I could escape from the mansion just about any time I wanted. The few times I’d managed to see her as Adrien had essentially been treated like state visits by Nathalie, right down to having my bodyguard hovering over everything. I’d truly enjoyed my time with her as Chat and, though it wasn’t a secret exactly that I was visiting her in my superhero guise, I wondered why she was downplaying it to Alya.

“Well,” Alya said as they went through the door, “if you do, you can ask that Casanova for a tip or two. I’m sure he can help.”

I tried not to groan. It was an undeserved reputation, one that had gotten worse as I’d grown older, abetted perhaps by a form-fitting feline costume that fully revealed just how sculpted my body had become from my superhero workouts as Chat. I’d been flattered at first by the online chatter about me and my… relationships, but the reality was pretty simple: aside from holding a flame for Ladybug, there had never been anyone else. I held my breath for another long moment, waiting for the door to close behind my two friends; at the last possible second, I dropped down to the asphalt of the rear alley a fraction before losing my transformation.

Tossing Plagg a slice of his favorite treat, I retrieved my backpack from where I’d stashed it in the alley, pulled open the door, then hurried down the hallway toward my classroom that happened to conveniently be on the same floor; rounding the corner, I nailed Marinette at full speed, sending a flurry of school items into the air. My latent Chat reflexes kicked in, though, and I managed to catch Marinette in my arms and automatically curled around her protectively as we hit the dull tile. Rolling slightly, I found myself looking up at the very embarrassed face of my friend. 

“Hey,” I smiled. “Fancy meeting you here. How are you?”

“Fine,” she said as she tactfully tried to disentangle herself from my embrace, her face flaming deeper as she pressed her hands against my chest. “Uh, where’s the fire?” she asked with a slight smile as we stood.

“I’m late for my midterm,” I said as I helped her pick up her books.

“Photo shoot?” she asked casually as she stuffed her items back into her bag.

“Something like that,” I nodded. “You had a free period, too?”

“Yeah,” she replied as we started down the hall. “I needed a walk.”

Even if I’d not been eavesdropping on her earlier, it wasn’t difficult to see she was troubled, though now that she was beside me, I had a hunch it might be more than just how to deal with her love life. “Is everything okay?” I asked, pausing outside of my classroom.

For a long moment, I thought perhaps she was on the verge of saying something; chewing on her lip, I could tell whatever it was, she wasn’t entirely sure I was the person to say it _to_. Sighing, she finally spoke.

“Totally,” she said softly, but her face said otherwise. “But thanks for asking.”

I looked at her closely, and thought I’d seen a momentary flash of sadness cross her face. It didn’t take feline intuition to know that she felt let down, and a flare of anger rolled over me. That anyone would treat my friend so callously...! “Your guy isn’t taking you out tonight, is he?” I asked impulsively.

Startled, Marinette’s eyes went wide. “No,” she answered. “No, he isn’t. Mostly because there’s no guy.”

Confusion reigned supreme in my brain as my own eyes went wide, for that seemed to be at odds with what I’d overheard. “I thought you and—"

“No,” she said quietly. “That didn’t go anywhere.” She looked at me carefully, then smiled slightly. “I’m sure you don’t have the same problem. What are you doing tonight?”

“Absolutely nothing,” I replied honestly, having seen all of my plotting evaporate with a few short words from Ladybug earlier that morning. 

Marinette looked taken aback. “You can’t be serious! Weren’t you and what’s-her-name—”

I chuckled. “Only in the newspapers,” I replied. “I mean, there _is_ one person I’d like to get closer to, but she doesn’t even know I exist.”

“You’re a supermodel! How is that even _possible_?”

“And yet, there it is,” I smiled a bit sadly.

My friend of many years looked at me. “Well, oddly, I know the feeling.”

“Really?” I asked, smiling slightly. “You have a girl you want to get to know better, too?”

Marinette laughed. “Not quite,” she smiled, my attempt at humor finally jollying her out of her mood. “Don’t be a stranger,” she added as she turned toward her class.

“I won’t,” I smiled, and watched as she entered the classroom opposite. In that moment, I solidified my decision to swing by the Bakery that evening, for it was clear my friend needed a friendly ear – or four.

Life – and Hawkmoth – contrived to keep me from heading straight to the Bakery after fencing practice that afternoon; de-transforming so I could recharge Plagg, I tried to put the third and fourth akumas of the day behind me and focus on the evening ahead. I’d gotten pretty good at lying to Nathalie about my post-school activities, including a regular study session at the library that in fact served solely as cover for Chat to be out and about late into the night a few times each week. As I texted my latest excuse to her while Plagg snarfed down two chunks of Camembert, I smiled slightly to think how she’d nearly caught me out a few weeks back. Quite fortuitously, the night she sent my bodyguard to check on me had been an _actual_ study session with Nino; that seemed to satisfy her somewhat, though I assumed another spot check was due at any time.

Transforming once more, I made my way over the rooftops in the gathering darkness, following my feline sense of smell toward the Bakery. Despite having wanted to spend the evening with Ladybug, I had to admit the prospect of hanging with Marinette had improved my mood immeasurably. Nearing her rooftop, I saw the party lights were on over her small rooftop patio, and that the girl in question was leaning on the railing, looking thoughtfully at the Seine below.

Not wanting to surprise her, I circled around to my usual landing spot and alighted quietly on the conical chimney I favored. “Hello,” I called out softly.

Marinette turned to look up and smiled when she saw me. “I wondered if I’d see you tonight.”

“Of all nights,” I replied as I vaulted down to the railing, perching beside her, “this would be one where I would defelinely want some company.”

“Ladybug turned you down again?”

“Yeah,” I nodded. “I shouldn’t be surprised. She’s been nothing but honest with me – there’s just no space for a cat in her life right now.” I searched her eyes. “Why are you home, anyway? To be honest, I didn’t expect to find you here on Valentine’s Day,” I lied, but then again, _Chat_ was unaware that Marinette was no longer seeing someone. “Not that I’m unhappy to have an audience for my caterwauling.”

Marinette rolled her eyes. “I would never have invited you drop in whenever the mood hit unless I wanted to be a willing participant.”

“I know,” I smiled. “And for that I am furever grateful.” My masked feline eyes looked at her closely. “Something’s bothering you.”

“I’m fine,” Marinette replied a tad too quickly. “I’m just... tired. It was a very long day.”

I narrowed my feline eyes at her. “Uh huh. Remember who you’re talking to,” I pointed out. “Cats are particularly attuned to emotion.”

“Are they now,” she chuckled. 

“Yes,” I said as I smoothly slipped off the railing to stand beside her. “What is it?” I asked gently. “Did someone do you wrong? Do you want me to claw the side of their car for you?”

“I’m not sure he drives,” Marinette replied with a sigh. “And it’s not his fault. He has no idea that I’m pining away for him.”

I blinked my masked eyes, trying to feign confusion though I was reasonably sure I knew part of the story from my alter-ego's conversation with Marinette earlier. “Wait,” I started, narrowing my masked eyes and lowering my voice to something of a growl. “Hang on a moment – did you get dumped? Is that why you’re home tonight? I thought you were seeing that--”

Marinette waved at me. “That was over a long time ago; we parted friends, but friends was as far as it went.”

“I am _so_ going over there and---”

“Chat, please,” Marinette said softly, a smile at her lips. “While it’s rather cute of you to defend my honor, it’s all good. We weren’t really a good match.” 

“Are you sure?” I asked. For some reason, I was only partially play acting; that flicker of righteous anger I’d felt earlier had burst into being again at the thought anyone would so easily walk away from someone like Marinette.

“Yes.”

I crossed my black-cladded arms against my chest and cocked my head at her. “But there is someone new?”

“In a way,” Marinette smiled. “But he has no idea. None.”

“Why not?” I asked.

Marinette looked away. “Honestly? I think two reasons,” she said as she turned and leaned against the railing. I joined her in my own way, leaping back up to the railing to sit beside her. “First,” she continued, raising a finger to keep count, “I’ve not told him how I feel. I’ve come close on a few occasions – this morning, even – but for whatever reason, I just can’t seem to do it.”

I tapped my tail against the railing thoughtfully. “Sometimes words aren’t the best way to someone’s heart,” I said thoughtfully. “I mean, look at me. I’m a veritable pile of word vomit each time I try to tell Ladybug how I feel, and it doesn’t seem to move the needle.”

“That’s not a very attractive analogy,” Marinette frowned. “But point taken. It doesn’t leave me many options though.”

“Sure it does,” I replied, looking over at her. “I made some headway with Ladybug last year when I realized she liked roses – and when I understood the meaning of their color a bit better.”

I heard Marinette chuckle. “Don’t lead with red?” she said.

“My bad,” I laughed, “but hey, she’s my first and only love. It’s taken me a bit to figure out how the whole thing works. Especially since my heart seems to be charting a course all on its own.”

“That does make it tough, doesn’t it?”

“It does. My point, though, is that maybe you could do something similar – not roses, but maybe make something for him. Like the charm you--” I caught myself at the last moment, nearly revealing the present she’d hand-crafted for Adrien some time ago. Being with Marinette felt so natural, so _normal_ , I often had to be on guard not to reveal too much about my alter-ego. “--uh, well you don’t seem to have it on today,” I gamely made a show of looking her over to see if the lucky charm was visible.

“What, something like this?” she asked, pulling it from a pocket.

I grinned at the small set of items on the bracelet, though I was struck by the fact that the one she was holding up to me appeared to be a nearly perfect duplicate of the one she’d given to Adrien. “Exactly. Or a scarf. Or a hat, even,” I added after a moment. 

Marinette visibly blanched when I said _hat_ , which concerned me enough that in a heartbeat I was off the railing and protectively cocooning her against my black-cladded chest. To my surprise, she’d actually begun to softly sob, her face pressed to my shoulder. Uncertain If I’d said something off-color, I instead shifted into my empathetic mode, the one I used with akuma victims once Ladybug was able to break Hawkmoth’s spell.

“Hey—hey, it’s okay,” I said softly, holding her as close to me as I dared without crossing any sort of line; she was, after all, one of my closest friends, and the last thing I needed was her to misinterpret my actions. “Whatever it is, it’s okay. Let it out.”

For far longer than I thought, she sobbed; sobbed as if she’d had the weight of the world on her shoulders and it had finally become untenable. Her shaking, shivering form kicked in other feline instincts, and before I realized what I was doing, I hugged her as close to me as I could, and of all things, suddenly began to purr.

Although I was completely mortified at the rumbling issuing forth, unbidden, from somewhere in my feline chest, I felt it have the desired effect on my friend; despite the heat I felt radiating from my exposed cheeks, her shaking began to subside, and at length she turned her head toward me. I tried to hide the embarrassment that I knew was quite plain to see behind a sheepish smile.

“I didn’t know you could do that,” she said with a slight smile.

“It doesn’t happen often,” I replied. “I’m sorry, I don’t exactly control it—”

“Your secret is safe with me,” she said as I released her. Wiping the dampness from her cheek, she smiled slightly. “I actually feel like I could tell you anything, Chat. It’s a rare gift to make people feel that comfortable.”

“It’s the ring,” I said, holding up my paw. “Thank the magic.”

“I don’t think so,” she said softly, shaking her head.

Slowly she moved to her chaise lounge and sat; I followed her over and perched upon an upended planter that had become a defacto Chat stand. Watching her intently, I felt like there was more to come, so I simply smiled and let her take her time.

“That’s the second reason,” she started, so quiet that even my feline ears had to strain to hear her. “I actually did make a gift for Ad---for him, and to be honest, it was a cosmic failure.”

I cocked my head. “I’m sure it wasn’t the end of the world.”

Marinette looked at me. “It was,” she replied, looking away again and seeing something in the distance. “I got lucky, though, and had a chance to reverse it.” She laughed mirthlessly. “And, frankly, the whole episode scared the bejesus out of me; enough that I’ve never had the courage to try again.”

I nodded my head. “Hence this other loser---”

“ _Chat_ ,” Marinette frowned. “It wasn’t quite that bad. But yes, I tried to look for love in other places, but in the end, I knew there was still only room for one. And yet, the very thought of trying again…”

“Despite your obvious hyperbole---”

Marinette glared at me. “I’m not kidding.”

“--what went wrong? What shifted things so badly that you couldn’t make it work with Mister Right?”

“What do you mean?” she asked, looking at me sharply.

“Well,” I pointed out, “you know what _didn’t_ work the first time, right?”

She nodded. “Yeah, I do.”

“Fix it. Then try again.”

“Fix it?” she asked, her frown deepening.

“Yeah,” I replied. “If you think it was your fault that it fell apart, tell me what it was that destroyed your chance.”

Marinette looked at me, and I watched as a series of thoughts crossed her face. At length, she got a slightly unfocused expression before answering: “I wasn’t entirely honest with him.” Her eyes snapped back to mine. “I lied to him, actually.” She paused for a longer moment. “Lied to myself, too, now that I think about it.”

“Lied?” My feline ears went straight up in shock. “About what? Your love?”

“I wasn’t honest about who I was.”

“That doesn’t sound like you at all,” I said.

“It’s not, but there were… extenuating circumstances.”

“Do they still exist?” I asked, wondering what the heck would cause Marinette to breech one of her most closely held beliefs: that honesty was always the best policy.

“Maybe,” she sighed. “Maybe not. I guess I was afraid to tell him everything. That it would push him away.”

“Would you trust this guy?”

“With my life,” she said instantly.

I shook my head. “I value your judgement, Marinette,” I said. “You are an incredible judge of character; if you feel that way about him, I’m certain he can handle whatever you think he _can’t_.”

“He didn’t the first time,” she said morosely. “I’m not sure I could survive a second whack at the apple.”

“I think he will,” I said firmly. “Give it a shot.”

She smiled at me. “Is it easier giving advice from behind a mask?” she asked.

“No,” I said honestly. “But it _is_ easier speaking up while wearing one.” I smiled slyly. “I’d loan you mine if I could, but Ladybug has this thing about us handing off our Miraculous to strangers.”

Marinette looked at me funny. “No need,” she said slowly. “You’ve given me a lot to think about on this Valentine’s Day, Chat.”

“Is that a good thing?” I asked, sensing she was drawing my visit to an unusually early close.

“Quite possibly,” she laughed. “Thank you. For being a friend.” She paused. “For being _my_ friend.”

I slipped off the planter and took her hand into my paw, kissing it slightly. “The pawleasure is all mine, Princess.” Taking my cue, I leapt to the railing. “Good night, then.”

“Good night, Chat Noir,” she smiled. “Don’t be a stranger.”

“I won’t,” I laughed as I leapt away.

I found myself unusually pensive as I made my way back to the mansion, wondering what it was that had happened between Marinette and the phantom potential boyfriend of hers. It wasn’t like her to be so dramatic about how it had turned out – I mean, we all feel like the world is ending when the love of our life doesn’t reciprocate, right? Still, the way she had said it had such a ring of truth to it, I’d felt a bit heartbroken myself at how hurt she’d felt. Landing in the open window of my darkened bedroom, I perched but a moment before vaulting to the floor and dropping my transformation, then continued to muse as I got ready for bed.

Plagg had retreated to his cheese closet by the time I came out of the bathroom, dressed only in my Ladybug sleeping pants; I stopped dead in my tracks at the dark figure standing beside my bed. “Nathalie?” I asked, suddenly quite self-conscious that I was bare above the midriff, despite being a supermodel who had exposed far more skin over the years.

“No,” came a familiar voice that I didn’t immediately place. “I’m sorry to surprise you so, Adrien, but your window was open, and I happened to be going by…”

My eyes widened. “ _Ladybug_?”

The small pool of light coming from the lamp on my nightstand would have been barely sufficient to have seen her red-and-black polka-dotted form as she stepped toward me, but the latent night vision I enjoyed from my Miraculous kicked in to reveal my partner was, indeed, standing just a short distance from me. 

In my bedroom.

I set that shock aside momentarily, struck by how tentative Ladybug was acting; as used to seeing her so certain in her abilities, it was a bit of a surprise and completely out of character.

“I wasn’t sure I’d find you home tonight,” she said as she paused a few steps from me. “It is Valentine’s Day. I assumed you’d be on a date.”

“No,” I managed to squeak, mortally embarrassed for the second time that evening. I tried to forget that I was standing there in next to nothing in front of the girl of my dreams. Which was odd sensation, considering how little my Chat costume left to the imagination. At least it had a mask…

“Me either,” she said. “Though Chat did invite me to do something with him this evening.”

“He… did?” I managed to say as a question. My face felt like it was a deep, deep shade of red, a perfect match for her costume.

“He did,” she smiled, that cute smile she saved for when she thought Chat wasn’t looking. The one that always melted me on the spot. As it was quickly doing. “I’ll say this for him, he’s been doggedly persistent over the years.”

“Dogged?” I replied. Without thinking, my Chat alter-ego stepped in. “I have a feline---- _feeling_ he’d object to that characterization.”

“I think you’re right,” she laughed. “There truly isn’t anyone quite like Chat,” she added warmly.

I blinked, somewhat stupefied. It was the first time I’d heard her wax poetic about me. “I… uh… is there… uh… something I can do for you, Ladybug?” I asked, trying to shove all of the Ladybug-is-in-my-bedroom fantasies to the back of my subconscious.

“I wanted to make up for something I did a while back,” she replied. “If you would allow me to.”

“Sure,” I said, wondering where this was going.

“Do you remember when I brought you that gift from your Brazilian fan club?” she asked, glancing over her shoulder at my bed.

“Yes,” I said quickly. How could I not? It was the first and only time Ladybug had visited my civilian alter-ego, though she’d been in the space with me as Chat a few other times since, ostensibly to check on Adrien’s wellbeing. (He was usually “hiding” at the time, of course.)

“I lied to you,” she said after a long moment and a deep sigh. “It was actually a gift from me.”

“It… was?” I replied slowly, turning to look at the bathroom behind me. The hat in question was in the closet beyond, in a place of honor among other wonderful gifts I’d received over the years from people I cared about.

“Yes,” she said softly. “I’ve wanted to say this to you for a while, but until recently I didn’t think I could do it.” She smiled again. “Chat, of all people, suggested that it was easier to say something while wearing a mask, and to be honest, I think he was onto something.”

“He--?” I started before a bolt of adrenaline shot through me.

_Holy hell. This isn’t happening. This_ is not _happening._

Suddenly I saw the person in front of me as who she truly was – and felt mortified for the third time I’d not seen it earlier. Blinking, hard, I immediately understood everything, right down to why Marinette had been so conflicted. Why she had seemed so beat down.

_This isn’t just about me. This is bigger than that. Bigger than us._

“I lied to you when I gave you that hat the first time because it was actually the _second_ time. For I thought – erroneously, it seems – giving you the hat the _first_ time had led to a mind-numbing series of actions that somehow led Chat to discovering my secret identity.”

_Ohmygodohmygodohmygod---_

“I won’t go into the time-travel aspects of the story other than to say I managed to erase everything and start over again. I lied to myself about how you’d figured out who I was; I think, in the end, I thought I was protecting you. Protecting us.” She looked at me, and smiled slightly. “I convinced myself I couldn’t love you – or allow you to love _me_ \-- because of the danger it posed to _both_ of us. But a dear friend of mine pointed out today that I have pretty damn good judgement when it comes to people. And if I felt the way I did about you, that it was likely you could handle the truth.”

I stood there, rooted to the spot, my brain spinning in multiple directions.

“Of all people, Adrien, I should have realized that you would be able to handle the truth. And to understand why my secret is so important – important enough that I nearly tossed away my chance at happiness.” She paused again. “For that, I am truly sorry.”

“You… love me, don’t you?” I said, so softly, I nearly couldn’t hear myself speak.

“Yes,” she said after a moment, before adding pointedly: “ _All_ of you. But it took a visit from a certain feline this evening for me to realize I could allow myself that one luxury.” She smiled slightly. “To allow someone else in.”

I nodded. “To share the load.”

“Exactly.” She smiled again. “It freaks me out to no end, but I think I can do it.”

“I know you can,” I replied instantly. “You’re Ladybug, after all.”

“I am indeed,” she laughed. “So, is your earlier offer of an evening out still on the table, Chat?”

“Absolutely, Milady—” I said without thinking, then choked. She’d slipped it in so subtly, I’d fallen into character before realizing she’d done it intentionally.

“There’s my kitty,” she smiled wider. 

“How long have you known?” I asked quietly, my eyes wide. “And how much trouble am I in?”

“Not long,” she replied. “And before you apologize, you didn’t give anything away. I just happened to see something today that connected some dots that had refused to be connected before. Willfully,” she sighed, “or otherwise.” She looked at me from those deep blue eyes, framed beautifully by her mask. “You’ve only just now done the same, haven’t you?”

I smiled slightly. “Since I was part of those conversations earlier, it was hard not to notice that Ladybug hadn’t been present. Except,” I smiled wider, “she had been. All along.”

“That she had.”

“I’ve wanted this for so long,” I said softly. “But I have to know – is this what _you_ want? Truly?”

Without speaking, Ladybug moved to me, then tentatively pulled me toward her; a quick pressing of her lips to mine was followed by a whisper to my ear. “Yes. More than anything.”

Stepping back, she pulled her yo-yo from her hip. “I hear the stars are especially romantic on Valentine’s Day,” she said as she slowly spun it. “And I know a rooftop that has a particularly good view. Would you care to join me?”

I smiled as wide as was possible without dislocating my jaw. “More than anything,” I repeated.

“Then you’d better change, kitty,” she laughed, her pure joy trailing behind her as she shot through my open window and into the night.

I called Plagg from his cabinet and did as I was told, vaulting into the night hot on the heels of my partner. For who was I to argue with Ladybug?

_Especially_ on Valentine’s Day.


End file.
